It has been so heartening to hear from readers of all backgrounds. I love that teachers all over the place are using Alis the Aviator to connect their classes with aviation, history, and women’s stories!
This review just came to me from a kindergarten teacher and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
My kids love pointing out airplanes and helicopters when they see them in the sky – there’s something so magical about human flight! That’s one of the reasons Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail’s Alis the Aviator makes for such an engaging ABC book. Built around the aviation theme, this book offers kids (and parents!) a glimpse into the history of aviation in Canada.
Amazingly, there’s a different aircraft for every letter, prompting lots of potential discussion around the different types of planes and their functions. Kalpna Patel’s cut paper illustrations beautifully render the aircraft-along with landscapes around Canada-in a way that captures the child-like wonder inspired by flight; they are at once magical and accessible, pulling kids into the book and inspiring questions about the different crafts.
If that weren’t already enough, the book includes a biography of Alis Kennedy, one of the first Indigenous commercial pilots in Canada (after whom the book is titled) and a glossary that gives additional information about each of the aircraft mentioned in the book. So much fun packed in one little alphabet book!